WVC baseball: UC outslugs Seton Hill 16-14; State tops Fairmont

Robert Collin drove in four runs, including a two-run double in the sixth inning Wednesday, as the University of Charleston upset Seton Hill in a 16-14 slugfest during the opening round of the West Virginia Conference baseball tournament at Epling Stadium in Beckley.

Seton Hill (37-14) came into the tournament as the No. 1 seed in the North division, but committed four errors that led to 11 unearned runs.

Brad Johnson and Ryan Foster each added three hits for the Golden Eagles (20-27), who advance to play Concord at 3:30 p.m. today at Epling Stadium.

The Golden Eagles took a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning, aided by three Griffin errors. Seton Hill added two runs in the bottom of the first, then took the lead in the second with a three-run homer by third baseman Nick Sell.

Charleston reclaimed the lead in the fourth, then stretched it to 13-5 in the fifth. Foster led the way with a two-run double, followed by RBI singles by Collin and John Schraer.

Seton Hill added three runs in the bottom half of the seventh, before falling to UC's Tyler Itnyre. Itnyre allowed only two hits and no runs over the final 21/3 innings to secure the upset.

W.VA. STATE 3, FAIRMONT STATE 1: Devin Bowles tossed eight innings of five-hit ball as the Yellow Jackets began their quest for another WVC tournament crown with a win over the Falcons.

Bowles, a junior from Fairmont, struck out five, walked two, hit two batters and allowed only one run before giving way to Josh Falbo in the ninth inning. Falbo, a freshman from Hurricane, retired the Falcons in order to earn the save.

The Jackets (28-17), the South Division top seed, broke through in the third inning against the Falcons' Jamie Allard.

Junior Cody Smith opened the inning with a single and advanced to second on Josh Kiser's sac bunt. Fifth-year senior Billy Smith followed with another single, leaving runners on the corners for junior Andrew Pickering, who delivered the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly to right field.

State tacked on a second run an inning later as Andrew Payne deposited an Allard pitch beyond the left-field wall, pushing the Jackets' advantage to 2-0.

Fairmont State (21-24) got on the board in the sixth as Jeff Fansler doubled-home a run to cut State's lead to 2-1. The Falcons had runners on second and third with two out in the inning, but Bowles settled down and escaped the jam.

The Jackets tacked on an insurance run in the eighth as Payne scored Pickering on a single.

West Virginia State advances to play Shepherd at 6:30 p.m. today. The Rams cruised past Davis & Elkins 7-1 in their opener Wednesday. Fairmont State meets D&E at 12:30.

CONCORD 5, WEST LIBERTY 1: Ryan Johnston broke open a scoreless game with a home run in the seventh inning and added another shot an inning later, helping Concord to a victory over the Hilltoppers.

Anthony Pierro went 3 for 5 and Mike Johnson drove in a run for West Liberty.